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whumpthusiast · 4 months ago

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Karma’s Bitch - 7

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Tags: female whumper, male whumpee, pet whump, shock collar, electrocution, sexual sadism, intimate whumper, noncon/dubcon

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There is some defiance lingering in him after all. That’s fine. She was prepared to break him of that anyway.

The water is running in the bathroom now, at least.

She had gone down to the garage to investigate the dog cage he’d mentioned, and saw immediately why he’d been so.. oddly excited about it.

It was a piece of shit; little more than a wire crate, and rusting at that. The sort of cage that you trust your dog to stay in, not that you trust to hold your dog.

Even as weak as he is, he could have kicked the door open.

Absolutely unacceptable, but she couldn’t help but be amused by the attempt. Leaving the garage, however, she’d noticed that he was taking a suspiciously quiet shower. She’d made her way back upstairs, stepping lightly, and stood outside the door for a moment. He was muttering under his breath, so quietly she had no idea what he was saying, but the important thing was that he was not taking a shower.

The day had been going very well, overall, and she was reluctant to change that, so she figured she’d give him a chance. Instead of opening the door, she’d simply knocked.

His response had been a frightened shriek followed by a thud and a shrill, panicked claim that he was being good. Which he was not.

He’d taken his leash off, and while that was extremely annoying, she was still trying to encourage his good behavior up til then, so.. she took a deep breath, and she exercised self control.

It helped that he’d just looked so damned cute on his knees.

Now the leash is locked on, and he’s actually taking a shower, and he’ll be on his best behavior for the rest of the evening if he knows what’s good for him.

Still, just to be certain, she’s sitting in the hall across from the bathroom door, legs crossed. Her thoughts drift back to the cage in the garage. Now, obviously, that specific one is unusable, but… well. Be careful what you wish for.

If he’s so desperate to get out of the basement, she could find a proper cage for him. With that in mind, she pulls out her phone to search around.

It doesn’t take long before she realizes that if she wants to get a good one, it’ll also be expensive. The one she particularly likes is over $300.

She’s not spending that much money on a cage if she’s not even 100% sure she’s keeping him. 99% sure, but that last 1%… if he pisses her off too much and she kills him, that’ll be a complete waste of money.

But damn, now that the idea is in her head, she can’t shake it. She has a vivid mental image of him in that cage, and.. mm. Yes.

I have his wallet, she remembers, sitting up straight. I might not have to pay for it at all.

She checks the time - he’s still got a few minutes left. It only takes one for her to get up and run into the smallest of the three bedrooms, where she had stored all of his things. Sure enough, there’s a credit card.

Hell yeah.

As she’s typing in his card information, she hears the water shut off with just about a minute to spare. She takes a few extra seconds outside the bathroom, finalizing the purchase, before opening the door.

She gets a brief glimpse of him before he yanks a towel around his waist. She smirks: it’s not like it’s anything she hasn’t seen before.

She does, briefly, consider not allowing him clothing anymore, but as it entertaining as his response to that would be - no doubt horrorstruck pleading - she’s simply not all that fond of the male form.

Not that she dislikes it. She just doesn’t want to see that hanging out all day, swinging around.

It would be pretty funny, though.

He notices her smile, and looks appropriately nervous, clutching his towel a little tighter.

She could tell him to drop it. He would. She can picture it - eyes wide and mouth parted in surprised dismay, maybe a stammering “b-but“ before his face turns red and he lets go.

God, he’s almost annoyingly adorable. Is this cute aggression? She wants to strangle him.

But she’ll be nice.

He adjusts the towel’s position and winces in pain, looking down at his hand.

Oh right, his hand.

Neither of his wrists look great, broad bands of mottled red-purple bruises left behind after struggling in the cuffs as hard as he had, but the right one - the one she bit - is noticeably more inflamed.

He takes a step back when she walks over to him. “Give me your hand.”

Tentatively, he does. A little swollen and shiny around the bite marks - two crescents of dark red scabs marking where her teeth punctured his skin - very warm, almost hot, and he winces a little as she touches it.

“Infected, but I don’t think it’s too bad. Your immune system must be pretty strong.” She opens the cabinet and retrieves a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, pleased that she’d remembered to bring it back with her. It bubbles white around the scabs.

After wrapping bandages around his wrists, she takes a moment to observe her work. You know what would look even better than those bandages?

As soon as his wrists have healed sufficiently, he’s getting some cuffs to match his collar.

He starts walking slower and breathing faster the closer they get to the main bedroom. She rolls her eyes every time she has to tug on the leash to get him to pick up the pace, and it’s not even a long walk. “Do you want clothes or not?” She eventually snaps.

“Oh. Clothes.” he mumbles, promptly catching up to her.

What the hell was he expecting.. oh, he’s naked and I’m leading him on a leash to the bedroom. Right. Seriously? His whole stupid kidnapping plan was for rape and now suddenly he’s scared of sex? What a weirdo.

It’s funny, how much more comfortable he seems once he’s dressed in a black tee and sweatpants, seated at the end of the bed, though he does have one foot tapping anxiously.

She sits behind him with her legs crossed and a firm grip on his leash, observing him in pleased silence before leaning forward and running her thumb along the edge of the collar, admiring her work - he shivers, inhaling sharply when she reaches the shockbox. Mm, she loves it when he flinches.

She moves closer, until she’s right behind him, can feel him trembling - hooks her finger in the back of the collar and pulls him back against her.

He smells nice. Mostly from the soap, of course, but there’s something more. Unfamiliar, but not unpleasant.

Maybe she can smell fear. She chuckles at the thought, letting go of the collar in favor of his hair, gently but firmly urging him to tilt his head back and to the side - baring his neck for her.

God, she wants to bite him. The first taste of his blood was satisfying. The second taste, intriguing. She’d never tasted anyone else’s blood before, and now she can’t help but wonder if she’s been missing out.

Or maybe it’s only his that tastes so good.

Her teeth are bared, breath hot on his neck as she exhales, nearly shaking from the restraint it’s taking her to resist biting down.

He’s holding his breath, hands clenching the bedspread, eyes closed - he twitches when her teeth graze his skin, whimpering.

She wants to bite him so hard. But she won’t. She doesn’t want to sever his jugular and have him bleed out, after all. Instead, she chuckles darkly before licking his neck, up from the collar, almost to his ear.

He lets out a stuttering gasp as she does, followed by rapid little panting cries of distress and relief in equal measure.

“Oh god,” he moans. “D-do - do you eat people? H-how many people have you killed?”

What.

What??

“What did you just say?” Her voice somehow comes out flat. She’s trying not to laugh.

He thinks I’ve killed people? And eaten them?? Oh, my god. He’s even more scared of me than I thought. That’s so fucking cute.

“I - I - Nothing. I’m sorry.”

“No, no. How many people do you think I’ve killed?” She asks slowly.

“Uh. Three?”

She snorts.

“Five?” He sounds ever more alarmed when she doesn’t answer. “T-ten??”

She can’t help it. She starts laughing, resting her forehead on his shoulder. “Oh my god. I - I haven’t even killed one! Thanks for believing in me, though.”

“You… You - Wait, you’re not a serial killer?” He asks, bewildered.

“No,” she gasps, trying to stop laughing. “Don’t get me wrong, I mean - I’m flattered! But what, exactly, led you to believe I’m a serial killer?”

He makes flustered, defensive noises. “You - I - I kidnapped you and you - you just kept criticizing me! Like y-you had, I don’t know, experience with, with kidnapping and torturing people!”

She chuckles. “Oh, well - I mean, it doesn’t exactly take a master to recognize an amateur. Still, I definitely would have done a much better job than you did.”

“But you… you’ve never done.. this.. before?”

“You’re my first,” she purrs with satisfaction.

“But you’re so… “

“Good at it?” She smirks, toying with his leash. “I do seem to have a knack for this, don’t I, pet?” She pauses thoughtfully. “How long were you planning on doing it before you did?”

“I - uh - I got the idea a few months ago, but I never really thought about, y’know, actually doing it until.. last week.”

“So you only planned for a few days?” He nods, and she can’t help but scoff a little. “Wow. No wonder it sucked. I have been planning this - fantasizing about this - for years.“

“Years? You’ve been planning to - t-to do this to me for years?! Why??”

“Not you specifically, dumbass.” She rolls her eyes. “You just made it so irresistibly easy. God, you have no idea. I’d been resisting the hunger for so long, suppressing my urges, pretending to be a nice normal person - but god, the whole time, I was imagining exactly what I wanted to do and how I would do it. In a way, I’m almost grateful you chose me. It was the catalyst I needed to finally embrace who I really am.” She trails off with a hum of pleasure, stroking his collar lovingly.

“I made this myself. Spent months on it, perfecting it. I dreamed of the day someone would finally wear it. It looks so good on you. Mm, I can’t wait to use it again.”

He turns pale, looking back at her with those big teary eyes again. “Y-you won’t have to, Master! I’ll be good, I swear.”

“Oh, pet, I know,” she reassures him. “You’ll do anything I say, won’t you?”

“Yes, Master. Anything. Please don’t hurt me, you don’t have to - “

“I don’t have to - I want to hurt you.” She growls in his ear, fingers like claws as she drags him onto the bed, pins him down on his back so she can straddle his waist and stare down into his eyes.

He’s so fucking scared, her captured prey, and she wants to devour him. He’s panting, tears running down his face - he’s even struggling a little, writhing under her, which only turns her on more. “Master, please!”

She bends low over him, holding his wrists crossed over his head with one hand. “Oh, my dear pet, you knew this would happen.”

He stops struggling when she pulls the remote from her pocket with her free hand - panicked eyes darting between her hand and her face. “No. No,” he whimpers. “D-don’t. Please don’t. Not again!!”

She sighs in pleasure, reaching down to gently caress his hair, remote in her palm. “It’s only set to five. You’ll live. I love the way you beg, pet, I really do, but right now all I want is to hear you scream.”

The button only takes a gentle push, a split-second high-pitched whine before sharp, rapid crackling.

He screams, and it’s beautiful.

Eyes wild, back arching from the initial surge of pain, convulsing under her - a raw, shuddering wail of pain and fear and utter helplessness that sends a thrill down her spine.

She takes her finger off the button.

He collapses immediately, gasping.

She sits back with a moan, that delicious scream ringing in her ears. Fuck, that was so good.

Do it again.

He chokes when she looks down at him, “no, no!” - his second scream is almost better than the first. This one is higher pitched and more desperate, though it doesn’t last as long as the first one.

She shivers. He’s trembling between her legs, panting.

“Please stop! Please!”

The third scream doesn’t even sound human, an animalistic howl that leaves him whimpering like a kicked dog - he flinches when she reaches down to cup his face, but when he realizes a second later that the touch is gentle, he leans into it with a pathetic whine.

“You’re so perfect.” She whispers lovingly, releasing his wrists. His eyes flutter open, gazing up at her with a pleading little whimper as he nuzzles her hand - shamelessly using those pretty eyes to beg for mercy.

Her hand slides down from his cheek to his jaw, holding his head still as she runs her thumb across his bottom lip. There’s a trickle of blood. “Did you bite yourself?”

He nods.

“Aw. Poor thing.” His eyes widen as she leans down, a faint half-whimper as she licks the blood from his lip; then he just stares up at her, speechless, his mouth hanging slightly open.

Fuck, he tastes good.

She kisses him - he makes a muffled sound of half-hearted protest, trying to pull back, but her grip on his jaw holds him in his place. She purrs, kissing him harder: her fingers dig into his cheeks, prompting him to open his mouth.

She moans in satisfaction when he does, pulling away to take a deep breath and whisper “good boy” before kissing him again, deeper, licking into his mouth - his blood washing over her tongue.

He makes a sound somewhere between a moan and a whimper, going limp and opening his mouth wider, submitting.

So. Fucking. Perfect.

She sits back with a pleased sigh. His eyes are dilated, cheeks flushed, and he’s panting, one hand clutching his collar while the other is clenched in the sheets. His lips are tinted red with blood.

Gorgeous.

When she shifts her position a little, she can feel that he’s a little hard. Oh, really?

“You liked that, pretty thing?” she purrs.

He looks vaguely horrified, but doesn’t disagree.

“Even after all that pain? On your very first night? Damn. It’s like you were made to be my pet.”

God, I could just keep him tied to the bed. He’s so beautiful like this.

But as sorely tempting as that is - no. After all, as convincingly submissive as he seems, there’s still a chance that he’s acting.

He’d have to be an idiot to try to kill her in her sleep, but he may well be an idiot.

No, no, he has to earn her trust.

But still. Tempting.

“Come on, pet. On your feet.” She slides gracefully off the bed and pulls on the leash - he follows with much less grace, trying to shift his pants to conceal what she had very clearly felt. She just smirks at him.

“Wh-where are we going?” He looks at her nervously as she leads him out of her bedroom, his eyes flicking over to the staircase; he groans when he realizes she’s taking him downstairs. “No, please, I’ll be good!”

“Stop whining.”

By the time she gets him in the basement again, he’s trembling. Locking the leash around the pipes and cuffing his hands behind his back leaves him hyperventilating.

Then she goes to gag him, and he freaks out - stumbling backwards, gasping. “No, no please, y-you don’t need to - please don’t.”

One short shock is enough to drop him to his knees, whimpering miserably with his head bowed. “Didn’t you say you were going to be good?”

“Y.. yes, Master.”

He doesn’t struggle anymore as she shoves a knotted scarf into his mouth and ties it tightly in place, but there are tears in his eyes when he looks up at her.

Good.

“Now, stay. I’ll be back in the morning.”

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@melpomenelamusa @hyper-real-hedgehog

#whump #whump story #my writing #karma’s bitch #female whumper #male whumpee #pet whump #collar whump #collar #shock collar #electrocution #tw electrocution #sadistic whumper #intimate whumper #tw noncon

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beanghostprincess · 1 year ago

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Sanji transitions to a woman living her best life with her crew. The vinsmokes find out the typical reactions indifference (They're kind of like kaido. Yeah, they're terrible, abusive, neglectful but they're not transphobic Jud is but the siblings are not).

Her sister is upset that she never got to spend time with sanji as sister.

Ichiji doesn't like that she looks so much like their mother it makes his feel something he doesn't know what it is happiness sadness maybe both but not enough to truly care about his sister.

yonji feelings are complicated. He's really angry, really angry. Looking at her bounty just makes him scowl she looks so nice and pretty. She also looks so happy and free not worried about judgment or slander from family and peers he hates it. He hates this weird feeling and he hates sanji. She's happy and living her life with her loving and accepting crew and he's stuck at home unable to open up about anything without backlash

( the weird feeling is envy specifically gender envy. Trans girl yonji she would be the most cold hearted girl on the planet but she'd be so pretty)

Niiji stopped caring about Sanji when she left the second time. Her being a girl now doesn't change anything and besides you could see the signs from mars of course she's a girl. He used to watch her play with her sisters doll all the time before throwing them in the moat

Jud nobody cares about his opinion

Transfem Sanji my beloved yayyyyy I love these asks!!!!!!

Reiju would be extremely happy for Sanji, of course, but a bit sad she couldn't be able to help her sooner. Because maybe- And this is unfair but- If maybe Sanji had been born a girl, perhaps Judge would've let some of the stuff she did slide the way she let Reiju be a little bit more emotional. Everything would've ended up the same, yes, but Reiju can't help but wonder. And also, she's dying to see her and her crew again to finally spend time with her sister. She isn't sure if she'll ever be able to do it, but Sanji's wanted poster kind of keeps her hopes up.

Ichiji is conflicted. Because he shouldn't care about Sanji at all. He doesn't care. Is she a girl now? Good for her. Whatever. She can do whatever the fuck she wants with her life. And yet he keeps finding himself staring at her wanted poster rather often, and seeing her mom in her. And he- He didn't care about his mom either. She's dead. It doesn't matter. But there's just something about Sanji now that makes him feel... Warm and melancholic and he hates it. He tries to avoid the subject completely.

Ohmygod- I love the idea of trans girl Yonji being jealous of Sanji's life and having gender envy. That's- That's so good. She shouldn't be able to feel like this and she should not want these things like her sister but she wants to be like that. Be free like that. And that makes her so, so angry and violent and she's constantly talking shit about Sanji only to feel better but it only makes her feel worse.

Niji is... Complicated. Because he doesn't care. But I think he'd also be jealous of her. Like- Jealous of her being happy and free. But he accepts it better than Yonji because Yonji goes all sentimental and violent and visibly jealous about it while Niji tries to be more like "Huh? I don't give a fuck about her. Why should I? Why do we even keep mentioning her? And besides, you didn't know she was a girl? It was obvious from a mile away. Not that I care. Because I don't care. She rejected our pretty kind invitation to the family again because she's an ungrateful bitch, anyway" but he actually does care and it frustrates him but, anyway, it's not like she's here anymore so he doesn't think about her. I also think he'd be annoyed about her looking like their mom btw he says she doesn't deserve it since it was her fault she died (and then he realizes what he said and he shouldn't have said it because in theory, he doesn't care about their mom dying).

And you're right, nobody cares about Judge. But I think it'd be funny if he complained about Sanji and misgendered her all the time while the siblings keep getting the pronouns right and they kind of... Defend her? To some extent? They start to develop stronger feelings as time passes by and I just think it'd be great for them to finally lose it with their dad because "at least she managed to find herself, we don't even know who we're supposed to be" and it doesn't matter which one of them says it, because it affects all of them equally and they have the biggest identity crisis ever only because their sister finally is happy and they want to be like that too.

#vinsmoke siblings my beloveds i love them they're so complex i am going to put them in the microwave and watch them spin #one piece #black leg sanji #transfem sanji #vinsmoke ichiji #vinsmoke reiju #vinsmoke niji #vinsmoke yonji #vinsmoke judge #vinsmoke siblings

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bloodyinkandquill · 10 months ago

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Biograft x Reader

again like before this will be a specific biograft that has gained consciousness somehow and again, i will use he/it on it and call it zeta for clarification purposes b

- Metal was cold and unfeeling, everyone knew that, but though thought they were wrong, if robots didn’t have emotions or thoughts then your lover sure has some strange coding

- Zeta was so interesting, a good interesting, but interesting and strange nonetheless, a robot only made to kill, mass produced, but somehow, he had come to gain consciousness, he had emotions, opinions, ideas, things Biograft’s shouldn’t, neither of you knew how or why he had come to be like this but neither of you really cared all that much, all that mattered was that it led to you two catching feelings, which was very confusing for Zeta who was experiencing emotions for the first time

- It was odd having a robot for a boyfriend, you had to teach it so many things about, well everything frankly, demons, emotions, existing, relationships, all of it was new to it so that led to many conversations where you’d explain concepts that were things very difficult to explain because it was just sort of something demons knew

- That’s not to say the relationship was bad by any means, absolutely not, even if not conventional you two made it work, figuring out how to show each other love, kissing, dates, the whole shebang

- For kissing it was easy enough, your lips to his metal, or him pressing his facial plate to your face, usually mouth, cheek, or forehead, even if he couldn’t actually feel it he knew what it represented and you could feel it, so he was content with it

- Seeing as he was a robot with no job and no money he couldn’t really buy you things, he could make you things here and there but you guys usually never got each other gifts, for the reason he can’t really and he also doesn’t have much use for most usual gift items, he can’t smell flowers, he cannot eat, jewelry is usually too small to fit on him etc, and you guys didn’t usually go on dates, most date activities include eating of some kind and when only one of you can eat it’s odd, but you guys would go on mock picnics, he always though nature was super pretty so you’d prepare yourself a bit of food and then just lay on a blanket together looking at a meadow or whatever nice spot you had found

- Zeta does not get the idea of pet names, like they make absolutely no sense to him, so you two just call each other by your names, you don’t mind much, if your lover doesn’t wanna use pet names you’ll honor that to make him more comfortable

- He worries about your health, sickness is one of the only ways demons can die so he is very fearful over your wellbeing, to ridiculous extremes honestly, if he sees you eating junk food or having a energy drink, or overall just consuming something unhealthy, he’ll tell you in greta detail how that thing is unhealthy and you should stop consuming it, if you ignore him and keep doing so he gets a little annoyed and starts listing the full ingredient list stating the dangers of each one either until you stop eating it, finish eating it; he gets angy, or somehow get him to stop it

- He feels oddly about seeing other Biografts out around, he knows only he is like this, no other Biograft so far has been able to think and feel, it’s lonely for him sometimes, when he knows the others of his basically species are emotionless husks, you do your best to comfort him but for someone experiencing these sad feeling for the first time he’s not good about how to deal with them

yippee!! i had one of these ideas in my head since the first biograft request because i thought it was pretty funny so glad i can finally share it, also if you guys didn’t notice my requests are closed just for a little bit, again i just need to catch up because i don’t wanna have too many requests and stress myself out

#x reader #phighting #phighting x reader #phighting!#phighting biograft x reader #biograft x reader phighting #biograft x reader #phighting biograft #biograft phighting

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yesimwriting · 1 year ago

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i get this vibe that best friend reader was a cheerleader in high school … https://pin.it/1OAic25B1 😋

was she popular in high school or not really?

omg!! love this and the jennifer inspo pic,, very bestfriend!reader with the uniform and the fun vibes lo

ik this is kind of a straightforward question but you've given me such a perfect opportunity to dip into character analysis/evaluation

but bc i have a long reply, i'll give a short answer here and my thought process (and some character discussion on saltburn in general,, more specifically on oliver and felix) below the cut;

short answer: reader was popular enough in a private school full of rich/extremely privileged kids, she wasn't running her high school, but she got invited to the fun activities bc she made friends with the students that were older than her, i kind of picture her like a smart karen if you've seen mean girls, kind of along for the ride with the popular kids but not actively working at it/being mean about it

but!! she's not fully aware of her popularity/influence on others,, which i think is her "major flaw",, which is something i think all (main) saltburn characters have (which is why they feel so real),, i'll discuss that below the cut :)

so something i love about saltburn is all of the (main) characters have a relatively clear flaw(s) that still leave some room for interpretation,, for example ollie and over indulging/consuming (he's "too much of a good thing" personified to me, i think the reveal that he comes from a pretty well off/financially comfortable family proves that taking too much is more of his issue than jealousy),

and felix is flawed in that typical rich kid way (he's a llittle weird in the way that influencer nepo babies are weird 😭 i'm sorry, i promise i still love him), he's so removed from poverty/struggle in a way that gives him a subconsciously self righteous ego, he's not naive but his perception of reality is warped, and in the end it's this belief that he's removed from real world dangers paired with his ego that catches up with him

so i wanted to do something similar with bestfriend!reader and in my head her "fatal flaw" is that she views herself as an underdog even though if you think about it,, she's not really

i want to make it clear it isn't a pick me thing!! at all! i see best friend! reader as not having the easiest childhood bc of some family things and it's not easy being openly smart in late elementary/middle school (especially in the 90s/2000s which is when she would have been that age...i think?)

so her insecurities are real,, but a part of her kind of embraces the "outsider" label bc it's familiar, she doesn't see herself as this polished, socialite despite being familiar with them and their world,, and even though she means it, to people that don't know her, it can be a little annoying to people more on the outskirts than her (cough, cough,, this is lowkey why oliver doesn't like her at first)

bc even though she's not as wealthy as felix and co,, and she's not fully embraced by his friends, she isn't this outsider that has no chance at getting in, people like her enough,,

it isn't perfect, but it's enough to get by, for example, people laugh at her jokes/comments, but usually, it's when she didn't mean to be funny; she always knows what to wear, but she doesn't always know what to say; she knows how to act at parties/knows how to be a fun "drunk", but feels awkward/under a microscope when at smaller things like dinners and group study sessions

also!! a little side note that i just think is fun, i think farleigh and reader's relationship is the marker of how well she's fitting in,, as soon as farleigh starts getting along with her, it's hard to deny that she's fitting in bc he's not easy to win over

i think all of this works as a point of contention between reader and oliver,, bc at first it's okay to hear "oh i get it,, it's hard to fit in with felix's friends" but that can only sound so genuine when farleigh starts calling reader over to hang out at parties and then later starts hanging out with them just bc

can also see reader having an identity crisis the day it's pointed out that she's friends with farleigh 😭 like one day another one of her friends asks her to do something and she's like "can't, i'm getting coffee and studying with farleigh later" and then it hits her like 😟

#bestfriend!felix verse #bestfriend!felix x reader #saltburn x reader #felix catton x reader #sorry for character analyzing a little hard here

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candlecordyceps · 1 year ago

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Ok I’m taking the time to Yap now WARNING FOR ANIME SPOILERS IF YOU HAVENT WATCHED IT!!!

This is just my raw emotional reactions, opinions, and just general interpretations of the last few scenes in the episode.

Starting off, I’m beginning with Shuro confronting Laois for what he did. Shuro seems to be a very high-standing fellow from what I’ve been given so far (as an anime only currently- I will start reading the manga once it finishes releasing I promise). He has guards that are close to him, and I assume he’s rich, and knowing that he will DEFINITELY care a lot more about black magic and laws, because they effect him more due to his (assumed) status. He’s understandably terrified of what this means for Falin. And he confronts Laois by asking him,

“Do you know what you’ve done?” He tells him all the hell that he can go through for it, what FALIN will go through for it, Marcille will go through- but Laois knows.

He’s well aware of the consequences and he was willing to do it anyways. For Falin. For his sister. Because she was willing to risk her life for him and for everyone, everyone followed suit, and the desperation to do so was so powerful they were willing to do what it took. And Laois ALSO knows, that despite what Shuro is doing right now,

He would’ve done the same. Shuro won’t kill him, because he knows he would’ve done anything too. Laois doesn’t GET people. He thought he could trust Shuro to be quiet. At this point it’s pretty obvious to me, especially in the episode with him being clingy and friendly with Shuro, calling him the one of the “only ones to call him a friend”, despite Shuro’s very obvious uncomfortable-disturbed-annoyed attitude toward Laois and general unwellness being unnoticed (until told specifically of it, to which Laois immediately got onto Shuro about his health). Yet, he knows Shuro would’ve done anything too.

Shuro stays his sword, Laois wishes for understanding, Kabru gets a drama boner (I find it funny how into it he is), and the scene changes. And FUCK man.

Laois loves Falin so much, and he knows how much Shuro cares. He cared enough to return. He told him everything because he needs the help, and he’s banking on the care for Falin to be enough to work with him to return her to safety. I’m SOOOO hoping he does help. That he breaks down and the sword falls from Laois’s neck. That even though it goes against a law so potent it could get everyone involved into extremely deep trouble, the bonds he’s made are enough. I don’t know Shuro well enough at all. Lord knows if he’ll even keep it to himself if they get out of the dungeon. But GOD am I not thrilled to figure out more. AND NOW, to the scene that made me scream from my seat multiple times,

Faliiiiiinnnnnnnnn GHHHHHOOOODDDD. When I tell you I GASPED. Watching the hands that we had witnessed painstakingly put together. The hands That two people took the care into fixing and making sure each was in the perfect place- scraping against the floor. Bloody around the sleeves, clawing forward- on a mission for someone she doesn’t actually know. Her mind is warped by the mission of the mage. Put back together just to bleed and be reshaped and melded to something scary and unknown and new-

AND ITS TERRIFYING. LOOK AT HER. JESUS CHRRRIIIIIIIST. Someone so loved and someone they all want to protect is RIGHT THERE, but she’s almost unrecognizable beyond her face, and mentally she’s so incredibly far away.

I can’t imagine the distress in everyone as they realize that they have to fight the exact person they’ve been fighting for. Because there’s no way she is peaceful and there is no way she’ll just “be Falin” without some extreme inbetweens. There’s no way that the mage doesn’t return if/when they succeed. I’m SOO excited to witness them figure it out and try to save her once more.

IF YOU MADE IT HERE THANKS FOR READING ME YAPPING!! This is mainly a little storage for me later when I wanna revisit and figure out what I thought before I knew what happened. Have a nice day/night readers!

#dunmeshi spoilers #kabru dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi spoilers #dungeon meshi laios #delicious in dungeon spoilers #dungeon meshi falin #dunmeshi #dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #dungeon meshi shuro #yappathon #i am once again talking about cool show

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girlfriendsofthegalaxy · 1 year ago

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tuesday again 7/23/24

i woke up at ass o'clock monday morning to find BOTH of my cats sleeping on the bed with me :') temporary peace and love on planet niceys

also read a book where my takeaway was that there are SO many opportunities in the world for evil engineering but not nearly enough for evil puzzle games

listening

my sister sent me ONE instagram reel/screencap of a tiktok and ive been muttering "emergency! emergency! paging DOCTOR BEAT!" under my breath for the past three days. alarmingly catchy remix of this gloria estefan song. this specific video below is pretty close but there are approximately eight zillion versions

youtube

reading

Dark Wire by Joseph Cox (photo from here, description from the publisher's site).

The inside story of the largest law-enforcement sting operation ever, in which the FBI made its own tech start-up to wiretap the world, shows how cunning both the authorities and drug traffickers have become, with privacy implications for everyone. In 2018, a powerful app for secure communications called Anom took root among organized criminals. They believed Anom allowed them to conduct business in the shadows. Except for one thing: it was secretly run by the FBI. Backdoor access to Anom and a series of related investigations granted American, Australian, and European authorities a front-row seat to the underworld. Tens of thousands of criminals worldwide appeared in full view of the same agents they were trying to evade. International smugglers. Money launderers. Hitmen. A sprawling global economy as efficient and interconnected as the legal one. Officers watched drug shipments and murder plots unfold, making arrests without blowing their cover. But, as the FBI started to lose control of Anom, did the agency go too far? A painstakingly investigated exposé, Dark Wire reveals the true scale and stakes of this unprecedented operation through the agents and crooks who were there. This fly-on-the-wall thriller is a caper for our modern world, where no one can be sure who is listening in.

i really liked this one! cox did a really good job of slowly unfurling the extremely technical details as they became relevant, instead of one horrible infodump near the beginning, and has a real gift for humanizing little anecdotes that illustrate the concept. he's also dryly funny in a very british way, eg the transition between one paragraph describing a very talented olive oil salesman and his lifestyle to how that olive oil processing covered up drug labs with the sentence "But Catanzariti didn't stay with olives; he pivoted instead to methamphetamine." i loooooove reading about how the drug trade gets around customs. i love edge cases and figuring out why things fail. i truly think some of the finest materials engineers of our time are out there trying to figure out how to get cocaine into australia.

this is deeply reported in a way that's very different from a lot of popsci and pop-history books that annoy me: this is NOT a book where it feels like the author is simply padding out a wikipedia page, supplemented with articles he's already written. he's been on this beat since 2016 and it shows: he has quotes from hundreds of people on many sides of the drug war. something i also appreciate is that cox is not automatically, rabidly pro-cop; he does not gloss over the very real tortures and kidnappings and all the other nasty realities of the global drug trade, and frequently shows how much overreach and entrapment took place during this whole endeavor. i particularly liked a chapter where he flipped back and forth from various law enforcement officials assuring him they of course complied with all relevant privacy laws and blacklisted anyone using it for simple secure communications, and lawyers telling cox "no the cops very much did spy on my privileged communication with my clients and i know this because these texts came up in court". also gratifying to read about some cases overturned or thrown out, in the odd case a judge decided it looked too much like entrapment.

i feel like i devoured this book SO fast but it's a solid 352 pages in hardcover. i also had to wait a good two months on the libby holds lists so there is strong interest in this book! good for cox!

how did i find this book: it's austin underscore walker's fault. they used to be coworkers at vice and cox and three others broke off last year to found 404 Media, which has had an absolutely crazy amount of real-world impact for the size (again! four people!) and how long they've been around. rip vice. wish u did better by your people.

watching

watched Hercules (1997, dir. Clements & Musker) with my bestie's five year old. i did not grow up with disney movies and don't really have a nostalgic affinity for them but this shit holds up! i like how meg has the silhouette of a greek vase

playing

powerwash simulator has a new free DLC out! we get to go to the aquarium and wash some exhibits and wash the research submarine!!! VERY soothing. took me a good solid two hour podcast episode to clean the exhibits.

the temporary summer event in genshin impact is very darling this year-- there are big indie game vibes and unlocking every chest is a little more complicated or has a little bit more story attached than usual. very excited to see if this continues with the next big update that introduces a whole new land.

i also like that they've picked An Art Style to work with-- everything is very toy-like or origami. not that genshin doesn't have a distinct art style, but playing around with something less realistic is fun!

making

look im going to have to add a cross stitch update to the morning reblog. the lighting in here is simply Not Good Enough

#tuesday again #tuesday again no problem

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moe-broey · 9 months ago

Note

I hope you feel better soon!!! Telepathically blowing up covid with my mind.

Got a simpler ask this time. Think the Askr crew have any nicknames for each other? The idea occurred me because I thought it would be funny if the summoner never EVER refers to Veronica by her full name. It started as a bit to annoy her but naturally became part of their dynamic. I think this group of weirdos deserve more quirks like that with their dynamics with each other.

TBANK YOU...... I am actually starting to feel better now!!! It must have been your power.... or just the passage of time and lots of rest.

I did... WAY too much here and got really off topic and Moe did take over. I'm so sorry. I barely control that thang. But also!!! A lot of these ideas have lived in my mind for a long time now, I just never got around drawing them out! I'm. Gonna try and organize this the best I can, bc I have SO much to say and it all kinda flows into each other...

This will be one half comic collection, one half character analysis and headcanons. Ready... GO!

FIRST OF ALL. THAT IS SO FUNNY. AND SO REAL. I can ABSOLUTELY see Kiran doing this. If you're a responsible adult figure in a kid's life, no matter the context, you Have to find harmless ways to annoy them. You have to find the bit, and commit to it. Just, um... well under most circumstances, said kid doesn't wield magic and have a giant spikey crown (making for lethal headbutts). So just be careful out there. 🫡

As for Moe... it kind of lacks that quality. Always a bit too in its head, often floundering in one way or another. Moe tends to love at a distance, has a lot of trouble expressing it, and often decides, well. It's just not my place. It seems especially standoffish about Veronica... it can't help but see its younger self in her. In more ways than one. Ultimately, it would avoid giving her a nickname, as a show of respect (it knows she wouldn't like that). It will speak extremely affectionately and highly of her behind her back, but minds its place to her face.

The fun thing about Alfonse's name is that you can extrapolate one thousand variations of it. Which is exactly what Moe does once it gets comfortable with him. And given enough rapport, Alfonse will happily respond to every single one (... except Alfonso). Al is the most casual nickname, that doesn't turn any heads. Allie seems to be the most favored one! (By Moe, or by Alfonse....? Or by Alfonse, as a consequence of Moe's liking for it?)

Sharena's name lends itself well to nicknames too! But Moe seems to exclusively go for Shari. EXTREMELY EXCITED at this show of friendship, Sharena tried her best to return the favor... but it didn't quite stick!

(As a side note! I wish I could have drawn more interactions here... just them going in circles mirroring each other. And one panel that would have been so sweets and speaks to Moe's character... snippet from my notes:

[Both of them become crestfallen.

Moe perks up a little. "'s fine. You can jus' stick to Moe. It is the name I chose, after all." <- It says this with an air of pride]

But I worked too cramped and didn't have the space to include it! 🥲💔)

LASTLY. Okay I have something really specific going on in the back of my head, here. But Lif does not tolerate nicknames. At the first whiff of it, he's shooting it down. This isn't a case where you can playfully get on his nerves and maybe eventually with enough time he softens to it. No. He isn't just being a killjoy about it, either. He... has his reasons. Don't press it.

OKAY. GRABS MOE W A CANE AND YANKS IT OFFSTAGE. GET OUTTA HERE‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

PART 2 OF THIS POST. Just a liiiiittle analysis and some headcanons!!!!

First. Of course. Alfonse. This is my stance. I feel very strongly about this. But Alfonse is NOT the type who uses nicknames. He doesn't do petnames, either. He is a man of many adjectives and weird relationships with titles. What does this mean?

Alfonse will use a title to refer to someone, to keep his distance. Up until somewhere along the way he catches a snag and suddenly he's romanticizing the title. Now the title holds a Weight to it. An emotional significance. The title is now a term of endearment. Unless if it isn't. The title is used for exclusively practical reasons. The title is a show of respect, to honor the individual in question. It means nothing. It means Everything.

LIKE. LIKE. When he's not being Weird about titles (using a title to keep himself emotionally distant from the receptient), he's. Being Weird about titles (using them to express WHAT that person Is to him, what that means to him, and how he feels!!!!). ADD IN THE ADJECTIVES. He fucking LOVES to use adjectives in place of nicknames/petnames. He is just a wordy fella. You can even catch him getting silly with it, if the mood strikes him. WAY over the top, doing Way Too Much.

Off the top of my head I don't have many examples. They come to me in visions and are gone as soon as they came. But. My fellow associate. My brother in arms. My deeply valued and highly esteemed comrade. My cherished partner (... trusted partner, even). My dearly beloved friend. My friend. HEAVY emphasis on "My Friend". Somehow, that's like a declaration of love from him. Unless if it isn't. "My Friend" still carries SO much meaning to him, though.

Honestly writing this out I'm realizing Alfonse is just the king of taking words that mean something and then making them mean something else. Imbuing his own meaning to it, between the lines. Hiding behind it. HE IS ALSO. THE KING. OF PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY. Alfonse asks "Is anyone going to endlessly complicate the situation or" and doesn't wait for an answer.

ONE NOTE. Is how titles are used as formalities, and how he's also just always so ready to drop them. You kinda have to play this by ear, considering the context of the interaction... really, whether or not he uses a title, and How he uses that title, is extremely reflective of his current emotional state. Can be reflective of the stakes, and the nature of the relationship too. Like the many occasions where he first meets a Hero, and both decide to be on a first name basis fairly quickly. Then you have his whole "The Summoner" vs saying their name, deal. And then you have whatever I'm cooking, here.

AND. AND. DON'T MISS IT! THAT IS THE FINAL PIECE I NEGLECTED TO MENTION UNTIL NOW! NAMES!!!!! A person's name holds SO MUCH EMOTIONAL WEIGHT. TO HIM. When he calls someone by name, it Means something to him. Which to me, lends to the idea that he wouldn't come up with a nickname for someone, himself. If they standardly use a nickname, he'll probably use it. Then, you have the added intimacy of the full name. But to me. What makes the most sense for his character, is that he ascribes meaning to names and titles.

The ONE. "Petname" I will accept, from Alfonse. Is "My love". Because that does feel in-line with everything I've said here. It becomes something of a title, itself. But even then, when I play it out in my head, it's always said as part of something greater, building UP to something, instead of being the main goal??? Like. To me, forever and always. "My friend" will ALWAYS hold way more emotional weight. Anything with too much of a romantic connotation to it just falls flat, ESPECIALLY on its own. Like NO........ they're MORE than that..... it's More Complicated than that...... you can't just reduce them to something so clean-cut. Dare I say normative... <- guy who has problems and complexes voice

That is. VERY MUCH just how I personally feel. Because I have something wrong with me. I'm fucked up and evil. Sick and twisted, even. (... or possibly aromantic.) Moving on!

MY FINAL THOUGHT. Is how does all this factor in, between Alfonse and Sharena? Well! To be so real I got so distracted I think I'll just barely edit these notes. And give you some screenshots about it.

When talking to Sharena, he may call her "sister" or "my sister" as like. Terms of endearment. Which is ironic a bit, in how they do come off as a bit stilted and distant. I can also see him getting extra about it though... him calling her, "my sweet sister" / "my beloved sister" either in moments of vulnerability OR. Moments before disaster (VIOLENCE....). Also "my little sister" as a term of endearment...

Also! Supporting this idea, one canon instance where he simply calls her "sister":

And!!! Both Alfonse and Sharena do the "call your sibling by their title as a term of endearment" thing. Sharena's version is a little less stilted than Alfonse's, but still may come off as odd to someone not too familiar w them (her, often calling him "big brother". Many canon instances of this!)

IT'S A SITUATION OF. Well for one I think it would flow a lot better in Japanese tbh, where honorifics like that are not out of the ordinary, they're standard. Where at most it's just a bit of a childish way to refer to him, almost reads like a childhood nickname that stuck??? (I think it depends on what variation of it you use, too. I'm only a little bit familiar w it!). But the thing is. The other half of this thought. It's a situation of "No Normal Person Talks Like That" BUT. If a character DOES. That's noteworthy and says something about them. And I think this goes for both of them! It speaks to the strict and formal environment they were raised in. If Sharena ever had a nickname for Alfonse that wasn't "big brother", it's probably gone now.

Also... another odd thought.... this sort of absence and emotional distance between them (esp early on, also citing Dragalia Sharena "I never bonded with my brother in such a fashion" and the Rosado FBs). That's your Brother. That's what he is, so you call him that. He calls you by title. That's what you are, he acknowledges that. That's what ties you two together. It's supposed to mean something. I'm supposed to mean something, to you. You're supposed to mean something, to me. These titles are proof of that. The blood we share is a bond, in and of itself. Emphasize it enough and maybe we can manufacture something, here.

ACTUALLY.... AAUGHH.......... OKAY NOW I'M CONSIDERING PEONY. HOW THE CHANGELING TWIST FACTORS INTO THIS. BECAUSE. BECAUSE. It's SHOWN that Sharena/Peony has informal titles/nicknames for family on Triandra's side.

Their father wasn't Father (like Gustav), he was Papa. Triandra wasn't sister or big sister, she was sis.

Aaaand that's where my brain short-circuited, blew up caught on fire and charred to a crisp. Sad! But SURELY. This, and EVERYTHING ELSE. Might give some pointers...?

LIKE. MAYBE THE CONSENSUS HERE. Is maybe Sharena did have a nickname for Alfonse, and in general is more likely to use nicknames. Maybe at one point it was "corrected" out of her when it comes to Alfonse, and now it would feel unnatural to do so. Meanwhile, Alfonse never really had any nicknames for her, but always has and still does use her name with So Much emotional weight. Plus the titles and adjectives. The FOCAL THING. About the Askr siblings. Is that they both adore each other SO much, but neither really know how to express it. There is an undeniable emotional distance between them. I feel like, taking this angle with them... the stiltedness, the forcing of affection that's already there, just somehow out of reach or beyond their grasp. I think writing them like this captures that.

I'll. Leave you to decide where Anna fits into any of this. And anyone else. I'm down for the count. To dust.

FINAL FINAL DISCLAIMER. You can take any of this or leave it! These are just the things that run through my head, when I write The Character... I really hope this answered. Anything. At all. Parse through my scatterbrained visions boy...... GOOD LUCK 🫡👍 (AND THANK YOU!!!!! FOR THE ASK!!!!!!!! Enrichment...... much needed in these trying times......)

#fire emblem #feh #fe alfonse #sharena #fe kiran #fe veronica #fe anna #fe lif #moe tag #summoner oc #my art #ask answered!#JUST. MAINTAGGING RIGHT AWAY. i am hoping and praying that this post doesn't somehow get fucked up #I HOPE THIS HELPED. or sorry that happened.#I GOT REALLY REALLY EXCITED AND INVESTED ABOUT IT THOUGH #my comics #as well.

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bereft-of-frogs · 1 month ago

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is friday have list

☁️ currently reading/watching/listening to:

☢️ [ audiobook] Midnight in Chernobyl - Adam Higginbotham: I'm thinking a lot about how I'm scared of radiation sickness in the way that I'm scared of deadly viruses. Because there should be some fanfare. There should be a collective wailing when you get hit with enough radiation to kill you (or contract a virus like ebola or rabies). And there's not. There's just a 'that's a funny taste in my mouth...oh shit.' And the concept of the latency period/incubation period where you can feel fine but already be dead. Horror. Anyway. This is where I'm at.

🤖 [ audiobook ] Network Effect - Martha Wells: HELLO???? THEY DELETE ART???????????? That is where I got last night before I had to leave for an event and today I've been slammed at work so haven't had time to listen. I am screaming. I have been screaming for like 16 hours. What. I'm so stressed. The rollercoaster from 'ART attac?????' to 'ART DELETED???' has been the most stressed out I've been reading this series oh my god I have to finish this post so I can go listen while stressfully doing my work tasks

👻 [ book ] The Haunting of Room 904 - Erica T Wurth: Possibly the worst book my horror book club has subjected me to and I'm only like 50 pages in. When I started being like 'what a second....this is really bad' I skimmed some reviews and most of them were like 'strong start, but fell apart.' So. I'm in the 'strong' part. It gets worse apparently. Fuck. It’s already devolved into me just highlighting lines I find painful, I might not make it…

🌌 [ tv ] The Expanse: Despite my whining, I'm coming around on the change I hated, mostly because it was pretty angsty fun to watch Naomi plead with Drummer not to fire on the Rocinante. This breakup is the stuff of legends. Drummer calling after her, 'I'm sorry -- if I killed them I'm sorry!' but Naomi's not having it...ok fine yeah that was good. They're really speedrunning Abaddon's Gate, so there's not a lot of time to sit with being annoyed with any changes. Amos has also been great both with the 'oh my god Holden is going crazy' arc and the hilarious way he shooed the camera crew out the airlock like 'yup, in you go, bye-bye'.

🛸 [ tv ] The X-Files: Episodes are still good but I'm really starting to miss Vancouver's gloom. The change to the atmosphere when production moved to LA is increasingly apparent, and while the writing is still good....yeah I miss the gloomy weather and dense pine forests.

🤖 [ tv ] Murderbot: I still don't like the Sanctuary Moon sections. I appear to be the only one. Everything else is fine, I'm not bothered by much else, but the Sanctuary Moon scenes are just tipped way too far into the secondhand embarrassment valley for me, so even if I like the way its being used in the narrative, every time it's actually on screen all I can do is cringe.

☁️ posting:

I'm posting stuff and stashing it here instead of making dedicated posts about it for ✨reasons✨ don't ask because the answer will just be '✨insecurity✨’

🌲 new chapter of way out there, extremely niche long!fic, stuff’s actually getting underway now

☄️ dipping my toes into not just bothering tumblr with Expanse-posting, but ao3 as well. have a book tag oneshot (in theory, first of several…I have a list. We’ll see how this one goes I’m always worried when first posting in a new fandom that either people will be like ‘wow…it’s incredible but every word you just said is wrong’ or something else insane like that the specific metaphor for loneliness I used is actually a dog whistle for the most toxic fandom discourse and I’ll be featured in a callout post within the hour. This is what it’s like being in my brain.)

☁️ to do:

Long run!

I should probably pick up the sleeves on that sweater because if I don't do it NOW it will probably sit in the project bag for another month.

I need to figure out where the draft I wrote last weekend is on the scale of 'salvageable by a deadline', 'salvageable but I need to take my time', and 'start over (for the third time)'. So. That's happening.

It is supposed to be rainy because once again someone has taught the weather what a weekend is and the weather apparently hates us and wants us to be unhappy, so I'll probably just be inside. Playing video games/watching movies/hanging out with void creature, idk maybe I'll try and blow through the 250 pages of this godawful book club book so I can be free of it. Probably going to be pretty boring but boring is okay too lol

Have a good weekend!

#lists lists lists #murderbot #the expanse #the x files

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absolutelyfibulas · 4 months ago

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Dutch's Terrible Toku Takes

Much later than I said I'd do it, because of reasons. Gonna do them in chronological order, and I'm splitting them into different posts because jesus it's a lot - Rider first because that's what I got into first. I've tried to avoid being too specific about spoilers.

A note: if I absolutely shit on a show/character/concept you love, this is not a personal attack. If any mutuals find me dragging a show/character/concept they love, this isn’t a callout or plea for you to stop posting about that content or whatever. I am an adult who knows how to curate my dash. Also I’m a hater who loves hyperbole.

Go in peace, etc, etc.

Kuuga

One of my top five series, and one of the few phase one shows to really balance the grimdark with hope and silly antics well. Very different vibes to later stuff and that’s not a bad thing. It does take a while to really get going though, which I can understand people dropping it because of (there’s a period between like episode 5 and 15 where I myself was going “nothing is FUCKING happening auughghgh”, and then bam, all of a sudden it clicked).

Godai and Ichijou walked so other Heisei gay ships could run, and has one of the few het pairings I quite like, albeit one that took me a bit by surprise.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: If someone says they couldn’t get into it because of the special effects, I immediately assume they were born after 2000. I guess this isn’t a take so much as me being over 30.

Agito

Inoue at his most “normal”, and honestly, not a bad showing for it. Plot is…Inoue. But as with most Inoue things, it’s got interesting characters (save for my One Lukewarm Take) with distinct personalities and motives. Definitely trying to lean more into the grimdark hinted at by Kuuga, but not really succeeding at it, beyond the odd “dude, this is for kids” moment.

Still, funny and entertaining enough. Shouichi remains one of my fave lead riders.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: I cared so little about Ryou that I straight up forget he exists, post watching.

Ryuki

It’s fine ™. I’m not a big fan of the battle royale series (ironically, given my teenage obsession with the Battle Royale film), and I consistently got extremely bored about 20 episodes in with Ryuki.

Outside of the first four or so guys I couldn’t tell you which rider was which, because they were all some variant of “oh hey some new little shit signed up for power/money/general dubious motivations”, with no real difference in how they were disposed of or dealt with.

It has its moments, don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed most of the sillier stuff with Ore Journal, and I REALLY liked the choice to [REDACTED] in the penultimate episode. It just didn’t really do anything for me otherwise.

Kitaoka and Goro are a married couple of all time, Shinji and Ren’s whole deal is amusing…but I also was annoyed that one of the only characters to permanently [REDACTED] was the sole female lead.

Basically, I think it’s objectively decent, just really not for me.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Eri could have been a potted plant and Ren’s story would have had the exact same emotional impact. Not that she’s the only female character this applies to in toku...

Faiz

I love it. I hate it. Both are true.

The good: characters are fun and distinct. As infuriating as they may be they generally act on consistent motives and attitudes, and outside of the het nonsense their dynamics are fun and interesting. I really like the orphnoch as antagonists and creatures, as well as the show’s occasional touching on themes and questions in the ballpark of “hey is a group actually evil if they’ve been treated like shit before they ever did anything vaguely in retaliation?”.

The bad: do I really need to say it? The romance bullshit, the Inoue of the women - hell, the Inoue of everything. I would gladly rewatch a cut of this show where everything involving romance was removed. The show would be maybe half the length, but significantly improved.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: I strongly read Mari as aroace. Her crush on Kiba absolutely reeks of “well I guess he’s the most appropriate guy who is a) not Takumi or Keitaro, and b) not horrendous to women?” comphet. Some folks take this as "she's a lesbiab" thing which is fair, but it just never rang that way to me.

Blade

The tl;dr:

I will only give the long version if specifically asked because, to be honest, I get mean.

Okay, now let’s note things I liked: Suits were decent. The Inoue two-parter was pretty funny. Show is very memeable. The resolution of creating a permanent stalemate in a battle royale where its end means APOCALYPSE was neat.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Coming out of this show where I could barely believe any of them were friends, never mind Comrades And Cuddlers, then seeing how widespread and passionate the Hajime/Kenzaki ship is, was uh.

I mean, ship what you like, but that was a real “running face first into a wall Wile E Coyote style” moment for me, fandom speaking.

Hibiki

Shouldn’t have been a Rider. It’s pretty apparent it was intended to be its own thing and I think it would have been better off for it. That said, I liked what it was! Nice, gentle coming of age thing, with nice suits and sweet relationships.

…Then episode 30 onwards happened and to be fair, that last chunk would have been fine in literally any other show (for a certain measure of “fine”, I guess), but in Hibiki it was just sort of amusingly out of place.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Tbf, the finale DOES do one thing right, which is to have Asumu decide to become a doctor instead of an oni. It was clear from the start he wasn’t going to be one and I don’t know why they bothered trying to pretend he wanted to. Doctor is the perfect role for him to help out and stay involved without fighting.

Kabuto

I mean it’s not good, but it’s not awful either. Tendou and Kagami being extremely funny and gay cover a lot of sins.

The initial Big Thing (the Hiyori thing) I actually quite like! It’s done sort of competently, and introduces a really interesting situation for Hiyori! Sadly they don’t do much with it (which I appreciate is partly because the actor had to leave for a while), and pretty much every plot after that reveal is very sloppily put together. It strikes me that they probably only had that initial plot planned, and then kind of went “shit, we’ve still got half a show to do”, which would explain some of the things I found unsatisfying. Didn’t stop them being unsatisfying though.

Basically a series that is saved entirely by its characters. It’s not terrible but I also wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, you feel me?

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Daisuke and Gou bored me to tears pretty quickly. I am DONE with the whole “minor girl acts like an adult man’s wife-mother-maid and this is treated as cute rather than weird as fuck” thing they keep doing. Been done with it since Amane and Hajime’s whole fucking deal.

Den-O

Bottom half of my top five. Very sweet and funny, though that’s kind of a barrier to enjoyment too - if you’re not into Japanese comedy tropes and slapstick stuff, you’re not really going to gel with it.

Another one where the plot is second to the characters and cast, but not terrible by itself. The imagin steal the show though, let’s be real. Excellent work from the suit and voice actors. Ryotarou is the lead rider I most want to give a hot chocolate and blanket.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: I ship Yuuto/Airi pretty much exclusively because they didn’t get them together.

Kiva

This is…a weird one. It’s not wildly, terribly, incompetently made, but also, it sucks.

Inoue at his most Inoue (dropped concepts, ignoring the more interesting themes in favour of het nonsense, love triangles, shitty about women) and also, his least Inoue (characters are forgettable, there’s no whimsy, just rehashes plot points from 555 that 555 did better).

I liked Wataru. I liked Jirou because Kenji Matsuda (also, I’m sorry, he was being Weird About Breeding for sure, but the attempted rape was very obviously a “shit, Yuri has more chemistry with this dude than the one we want to get her together with, come up with a reason to not support it that we will then completely ignore afterwards as if it never happened QUICK :)” choice). Everyone else is just kind of a mass of characters melded together to me.

The suits, music, and general aesthetic FUCK. That much is unarguable. That…was about it. I found it paternalistic as hell, and honestly just kind of annoying past a certain point. BUT, it was at least occasionally funny.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: (This might be an actual hot take for once lol)

Getting to henshin once because the men around you decide to let you have a try does NOT mean the show has a female rider. Those IXA transformations were some of the most condescending horseshit I’ve come across in toku re: women and that’s saying something.

Decade

I wish this show had been given a full episode run, because you can see exactly where the potential for a decent, coherent plot lay. It’s funny, I love the foursome, but look, yeah, it’s. It’s not exactly good.

Tsukasa is my favourite lead rider because he’s such a shit. I would still watch Zi-O for him over Decade itself, though it’s criminal Natsumi and Yusuke didn’t get to turn up even briefly in that show.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: They needed to go all in on the AU thing if that’s what they had to do, instead of occasionally tip-toeing into the originals. All or nothing, baby.

Another one of my top 5, another one where it’s mostly the characters over the plot, and another one where the women are treated Weirdly.

Plot is okay, not amazing and a bit messy/rushed towards the end, but the noir-esque framing was charming. I loved the gimmick of the two-in-one rider, and the characters were good fun! Akiko in particular is one of my fave female characters, because she got to have an actual goofy personality, rather than being kind of generically nice but occasionally nagging to show she’s the designated Love Interest (in fact, she HAS a love interest rather than BEING the love interest, which was a nice change).

I was…not really big on Wakana. I was much more interested in Saeko, and wish the show had ended with the two of them going off to sort out their issues together as sisters, but y’know, it’s a toku. What the fuck did I expect.

Philip and Shoutarou’s whole deal is some of the gayest shit I’ve seen, bested only by Banjou/Sentai and Ichijou/Godai.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Akiko not becoming a rider is the sole reason she survived to the end. You KNOW if she’d been a rider they would have killed her off like their lives depended on it.

OOO

Very fond of this one, for its flaws! Also in my top 5. Something about it just hit right when I was in the middle of lockdown induced mental breakdown.

Plot is generic but competent, the characters are memorable and likeable. Suits are good and the villains are entertaining. My only real complaint is that the Big Bad is kind of meh, though at least amusing throughout.

Was also pleasantly surprised to see a show like this basically all but use the words “depression” when talking about a character’s mental health. Baby steps and all that.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: I’m not opposed to Eiji/Ankh but lbr. Date/Gotou are the real outstanding homosexuals here.

Fourze

Saying this feels like kicking a puppy, but…it’s not my bag. Pretty much entirely because I’m just not really into high school stories.

The characters are fine, the plot is. Well. It is what it is. The suits are excellent. I just never really clicked with it or felt any of the emotional beats. That one scene that everyone seems to cry over just had me sat there waiting to move on. I think the strongest emotion the show ever elicited from me was bewilderment at the last minute het hookup.

That said, I don’t think it’s bad. It’s just, like with the battle royale series, not for me.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: I actually don’t think I have one for this series? I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about this one and often forget it exists > . >;

Wizard

I went into this knowing that it was a series people were funny about, and fucking loved it. Not quite in my top 5, but top 10 for sure.

I loved Haruto as a contrast to his predecessor, Beast is my favourite secondary, and hey! First female rider treated decently! (Her suit sucks, but that’s a separate issue.)

Rinko is fine, but they obviously kind of stopped knowing what to do with her. Koyomi was so clearly signposted for [REDACTED] that I didn’t really feel any reason to care about her, which was then exacerbated by her not being as present as a character with her level of import should have been. Shunpei mostly felt awkward to me. He’s clearly the kid appeal character, which, fine. Whatever. Not for me to enjoy.

That aside, it’s otherwise a sweet, funny series, and the aesthetics pop the fuck off. The main issues are balancing the cast, the pacing, and the fact that for some reason, the last two episodes are just Random Antics.

Look, I love getting more Decade any goddamn time, but those 2 episodes should have been Wizard’s last two episodes, not “hey let’s show off the new guy and harken to nostalgia!”

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Shunpei shouldn’t have been a Main Character, he should have been Recurring. Specifically, he should have been given his finale role MUCH earlier as a reason for him to be around.

Gaim

Woof.

Battle royale, so meh. Dance battle concept should have been committed to but they were COWARDS, in which case they should have not bothered with it at all.

I am not a huge Urobuchi fan (I loved Thunderbolt Fantasy for the puppets, and have zero interest in Madoka), so this series wasn’t really a great advertisement for him. I also found this series more offensive about its women than any Inoue series, which is saying something!

Inoue shows seems to recognise women are people. They might not care much for the Brand Of Person they are, but they are very much under the “person” category. Meanwhile Gaim is so dismissive of its women that you can hear the “UGGHHH I GUESS IF WE HAVE TO” every time a female character gets a line of dialogue.

The female rider’s only selling points are that her actor seems cool, and that she’s a female rider (I can’t even remember her name which kind of says it all). Mai is so disrespected by the plot that they literally turn her into a prize to win - and anyone who tries, unironically, to argue that that it’s ~satire~ of other media doing the same thing, needs to remember that it’s not satire if you just bloody do the thing.

Ending sucks, while clearly thinking it’s doing something subversive. Has way too many characters it expects me to care about. Worst wigs in toku, somehow.

…And yet, parts of it compelled me. There are moments of potential, of interesting ideas! Kouta is great fun as a lead rider because he’s that specific brand of idiot that everyone is at 20. Long live the buff short king, etc, etc. Oren is Iconique, and deserves to kick the ass of all these annoying teenagers hanging around.

Which is to say, god I hate it, but I was willing to suffer it all for Kouta and Oren. Oren and Kouta are worth any and all suffering.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Kouta/Takatora have more chemistry in their around 4 scenes than Kouta and Kaito did in the entire show.

(On which note, godspeed Kaito’s actor, I hope you’re living your best life.)

Drive

A mixed bag. Has good moments, has crap ones. Weird vibe due to the whole “state sanctioned superhero basically commits genocide” angle. Has one of the rare het pairings I’m okay with, except for how they got them together which is one of the stupidest two episode plot arcs I’ve seen a Rider shoot itself in the foot with - mere episodes before the end!

Chase best boy. Gou is a little shit of the “oh, he needs therapy therapy” variety. I can’t talk about Kiriko without devolving into the I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream monologue aimed squarely at the writers. The little cars are weirdly cute and made me care for them.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: I hate when people do the whole “it’d be good/okay/whatever but you know, COPS” hand-wringing. We’re grown ups here, I think we can take it as read on toku tumblr, of all places, that none of us are watching this thing going “well golly gee I sure do love policemen they seem like reasonable fellows who can do no wrong ever!”

Make actual criticisms if it’s relevant, otherwise it’s just weird and performative.

Ghost

Nowhere near as bad as various other toku sources seem to think it is.

Takeru is a sweetheart, Akira is a great Science Badass. I love the team in general, and it’s a rare series where a good monster of the week gets to live.

It’s also a bit muddled, and the plot does meander somewhat (based on Saber, I suspect this is an issue the lead writer has in general), and the big bad escaped my brain the minute the show ended.

I’m not touching the incest shit because it doesn’t deserve the energy wasted on engaging with it.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: I'm almost impressed at how this show managed to make non-incestuous potential pairings seem incestuous.

Ex-Aid

When I first watched this show I came away really unsure how I felt about it, and figured I’d rewatch it to determine if I liked it on a second viewing. Candidcantrix said she wanted to watch it, which was a perfect opportunity, and I did indeed get my answer!

I don’t like it 🙂

Plot is very standard battle royale-esque stuff. Every single character under 20 is annoying as hell (Nico faintly improves when she and Taiga become the shithead siblings, but it takes them a while to get there), to the extent even Cantrix - who I generally deem much nicer than me - was going “let the little fucker die then” at the multiple plots involving kids being shits to Emu.

Suits are cute. Gaming stuff is funny. Kiriya and Kuroto are fun, though sadly not present for enough of the show to make up for the other dudes.

Emu is…fine. He’s a perfectly okay lead, just not particularly outstanding. Taiga I didn’t care for until he and Nico became a duo. Hiiro is...hm. Let’s just say it’s always rough when you don’t like the character who seems to be a fandom darling/bicycle. Which is a shame because I actually really like his actor.

Poppy I wish was treated halfway decently by the writing. Also, while not a surprise, it was still infuriating as hell that Nico “COMPETITION IS MY LIFE AND ALSO I’M RICH AS FUCK” Saiba says “I was inspired by you doctor guys with your doctoring!” and becomes…a nurse.

Not to knock nurses, but y’know. It was a very clear "Boys Become Doctors, Girls Become Nurses uwu" message, that immediately brought to mind the news story of that medical school that fucked with applications from women and made me want to commit violence.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: …I don’t care for Parad either.

Build

Current top 1? Definitely vying with Kuuga for that spot. Characters good, story good and better written than it had any reason to be.

Not much more to say, really.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Kazumi/Misora are fine.

Zi-O

Where’s that “Zi-O is good, you all are just mean” meme?

Basically fun. Plot is…certainly an attempt at a plot. Made the mistake of trying to instigate rules about the Other Riders (none of which were good), then realised the rules suck and dropped them quietly about halfway through. Which, y’know, I will at least give them the fact that they realised the rules should be dropped.

Suits are good, the core gang are fun, DECADE IS GOOD, and it’s very funny.

Unfortunately it doesn’t balance tone very well, so the more serious stuff towards the end felt very unearned and disingenuous.

Also Tsukuyomi should have got more than 20 seconds in-suit.

Otherwise? I quite enjoyed it. Was nice seeing the older riders who came back, and the team having Antics.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: NEEDS MORE DECADE.

Zero-One

I have a category called Forgettably Inoffensive, and Zero One falls into it.

It’s fine. It’s not terrible but it’s not brilliant. Aruto is fun. Fuwa is a mixed bag who gets better as the show goes on. Yua is a blank slate they completely fumbled, to the point of frustration because they could have done some really interesting things with her, but waited 10 episodes too long to break her out of [REDACTED] which was the main source of the issue.

The good suits are very good. The plot is average, but does at least handle its synthetic characters with a bit more decency than Drive. Yet another show where the only character to permanently [REDACTED] is a woman (I am biased by my personal views on consciousness here so some people might disagree with my definition of [REDACTED]).

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: This is one of the rare media where I prefer fandom’s version of the female lead to the canon. This is mostly because canon’s version doesn’t actually get to have her own motives and agency until about 4 episodes from the end.

Saber

YOU DO NOT NEED 800 RIDERS.

Plot wanders all over the place, and I assume the pandemic was responsible for a chunk of the issues but also, like. Fucking make sure your writing team are vaguely aware of what everyone is doing. The lack of direction is painfully apparent, resulting in various half-baked ideas that don’t really go anywhere (did Touma need a 2 episode berserk suit arc? Really?), and characters treading on each others’ toes. Too many chefs spoil the broth, etc, etc.

Reika didn’t need to have her brother be an actual character in the show. She didn’t need her only characterisation after Evil Arc (which was, itself, NOT GREAT) to be more of Ghost's weird incest shit. She DID need actual focus and a personality, but she’s a girl so fuck her, I guess.

Touma, Rintaro, Mei, and Kento? Grand, love ‘em as a core squad. Rintaro/Mei is one of the few het couples I’m fine with. As much as I think Mei should have been given a sword too, I also wasn’t particularly upset with her handling when compared to uh. Other Female Characters.

It’s a mess. It’s an entertaining mess, but I won’t be watching it again. Perfectly okay if you turn off the part of your brain that handles comprehension.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Didn't need more riders past Ogami. Daishinji was fine as a tech, Ren was a waste of time, and. Well. I've touched upon the Reika And Reika's Brother issue.

Revice

Revice is Fine. It’s literally Fine. It is the definition of average which is, by Kamen Rider standards, fine.

It’s not amazing, but it’s also not terrible, and I'm not really sure why tumblr toku fandom acts like it is, beyond people deciding to dislike it before it aired because Vice's VA is a known cunt. Which he is but like, he wasn't in charge of the show.

The main problems with it were Vice (who is massively toned down fairly quickly), pacing (not a unique problem), and being somewhat muddled towards the end (also not unique). Otherwise it’s a perfectly okay series that isn’t even remarkable in the issues it does have.

Would have benefited from the writer’s original intention of having a female lead - Sakura is basically the main character after a certain point, and it’s irritating that they keep having to call Ikki back to do The Big Shit despite him not really being involved. I remain convinced the show would have been improved with Sakura as primary, Daiji as secondary, and Ikki as a surprise Meddling Big Brother third.

George was funny. Hiromi was adorable, as was Lovekov. Kagerou was hilarious.

The weird plot with the doctor towards the end baffled me because it tried to act like she was part of the gang all along, and she hadn’t been in the show for like 20 episodes by that point? I didn’t even know her name.

Same for that one guy from Weekend who they clearly wanted to be a love interest for Sakura - I spent pretty much every moment he was on screen going “who are you again?”

(Meanwhile they tried to sister zone Hana in the Girls Extra which was fucking hilarious. True equality is getting no homoed with the same level of effort as any given dude ship, I guess.)

I shall stay in my “Revice Is The Defintion Of Okay, You All Are Just Annoying” cave without digging too much deeper though, because it descends into conspiracy and me being a miserable cunt.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Better written than Saber. That's it, that's the take.

Geats onwards:

I’ve not watched any Rider past Revice, mostly because Geats and Gotchard really didn’t grab my attention. Geats for being a battle royale AND a Takahashi show.

Gotchard mostly put me off by being a high school type thing, buuuut I was further put off by the fact that there was hubbub about having a female secondary…and then I've seen exactly zero screenshots, gifsets, or clips of her in-show. Which does not bode well for how she was treated.

Gavv I’m faintly interested in, due to me generally enjoying the lead writers’ shows, but I’m waiting until it’s done (and I have more time) to watch it.

So.

Tl;dr: There's a reason I only have a few toku mutuals, and it boils down to me being a miserable old coot sitting on my porch going

#dutch rambles #let this kamen ride

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reco-obsessed · 5 months ago

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HII HELLO its me again hc anon and i wan to know.....do u have any specific hcs for samurai yaiba era reko? :3 i love to hear your hcs a ton <3

hello hc anon, its nice to see you again, i thought i scared you off. im sure i do if i take a second to scrummage around. i have a pretty speculative view of samurai yaiba in general, so i think most of my thoughts on samurai yaiba era reko could be considered headcanons, but theyre a bit less fluffy than the last ones (most of the analysis-type ones are under the cut).

i think her eyeliner probably varied a lot just depending on how much of her eyebags she was trying to cover up or how much she messed up the other eye. i dont think she was going for a specific look as much and just kinda went with it.

i wonder a lot if her hair was dyed different back then. we can see with her wig she obviously has always had that weird part in her bangs as kind of her signature, but her character sheet notes how her teardrop eyeliner is a style shes favored 'recently', which makes me wonder what other aspects of her style were different back then. and then of course that line obviously indicates her eyeliner style was different as well, not just on stage but in general. i could see her with blond tips, or thin streaks similar to the spots of pink in her blue wig. maybe shed dye the underside of her hair? i should draw these at some point

Reko’s eye contact is very all or nothing. Either she’s staring you down, hasn’t blinked in five minutes with no signs needing to, or she turns her head completely away and closes her eyes like she’s got her social security number written on her eyelids and is trying to hide it. This is something i headcanon for reko when we see her in game as well but imagine how much worse it is when she’s got those electric blue contacts in and that annoyed look on her face.

while i doubt its the case, i think theres an argument you could make for SY reko still being closeted (this depends a lot on whether you also headcanon her as transfem. it doesnt make as much sense if shes closeted as a lesbian but out as a trans woman. then again, that would be extremely funny, and thats usually enough reason for me). shes been very rebellious before this and had her noted delinquent era, but seems to have been isolated and focused on music for pretty much her entire life. i see SY reko as someone who squandered most of her positive feelings about people away in general, let alone such intense ones like a crush. she definitely had some really obvious moments anyway, but she just... only focuses on music. she compresses what she feels into music instead. if she was, it would definitely be a situation where literally everyone besides her knows. i also like this interpretation because i think the idea that she kind of knows shes different from everyone else, doesnt get conventional norms about romance, and overall just suppressing such a huge part of herself probably contributed to her early rebellious phase and her short fuse. then again, you could easily argue her figuring out she was into women could have contributed to her rebellion in the first place.

i think she wore lipstick more often back then. not all the time, but on occasion. this ones just a hunch.

i like to imagine part of the way the stage outfit we see her in is designed is intended to prevent her from overheating (shorts, mesh paneling). its probably mostly a stylistic choice, especially since that doesnt seem to be a concern for the other members, but also consider shes singing, playing guitar, and probably even dancing as well, and shes already got enough reasons why she could fall over- she doesnt need her outfit to contribute (even though she ends up wearing heels anyway).

I see SY Reko as probably being someone who was in a bad place mentally thorough out the bands run. shes kind of in this in between spot, where shes made this big statement of having rebelled from her father and the industry she was forced into, but she hasnt completely shorn off every harmful thing she was taught from those years in actuality. shes 'free', and she thinks shes 'free', but in reality she keeps falling into habits and patterns of thought set up from earlier in her life and she doesnt even realize it and wont for a while, as she isnt in a place where shes self aware until later on. shes destructive- mostly to herself, but it doesnt look like that from the outside because theres so much collateral. this concept is kind of the foundation for a lot of my interpretation of Samurai yaiba era reko. the symptoms include:

I doubt SY reko took as good care of herself as she shouldve back then. maybe not skipping showers or not brushing her teeth type of not taking care of herself, but probably had a poor diet, a shitty sleep schedule, was overworking herself.

I can see SY reko being the type to exercise a lot. i imagine she had a thing about making sure she was always in peak performance. another part of how she disregarded herself in order to keep up to her own impossible standards. (theres also the fact her stage outfit shows off her midriff and legs, so its not impossible she felt the need to keep herself in check in that sense).

i imagine she hid not only her feelings about alice from him, but just her feelings on their band and stuff in general. her feelings about alice have always been complicated, and between desperately trying to not feel any love for him and failing at it, and her trying to put her all in samurai yaiba and making it the perfect successful band she thinks he wants, its easier for her to just try to interact with him any more than she has to.

similarly, i see SY era reko as being someone who was very lonely, but didnt process it enough to realize that. she was isolated from her peers at an early age by been tokenized as a 'gifted kid' and then later on even more so as a source of profit, and she lost out on a lot of key developmental stages socially. she throws herself into her music completely instead of even trying with people because its all she even knows how to do. even if she did try, she has this complex about how everyone is out to get her. she doenst think anyone really wants to be around her, and she tries to match that energy with something along the lines of 'well screw all of you anyway'. in spite of all that, she still has that base need to be with others and connect to them- partially shown thrown her love of music, and its probably part of why its such a huge coping mechanism for her.

SY era reko has issues with vulnerability. obviously self-esteem contributes to this, but i think its also a big symptom of being exposed to the music industry as child. she got used for profit when she was just a kid by the people who were supposed to protect her, and no one stepped in until she refused to keep going along with it herself. its no wonder shes learned to see everyone as an enemy.

SY Reko probably had something similar to a paranoid streak. shes canonically described as someone who antagonized everyone by Alice, which means she was probably constantly in self-defense mode, hence her angry outbursts. she likely saw everyone as hating her and wanting her downfall or at least inevitably leading to it, and based off the notes of ehr being 'alone' and pushing everyone away, was likely very closed off and incapable of thinking of herself in a positive light or even as thinking of herself as lovable at all. i think its very likely that with how her father treated her, his love became more conditional- like a goalpost or reward for doing well enough, if he even kept showing affection at all. i think it probably really scarred how she saw love, especially at this point in her life, and you can see a lot of it in the way she interacts with alice.

even though reko rebelled from making the music she didnt want to, i think she was still left with a lot of self esteem issues from abandoning the thing that made her valuable and lovable to her family. yes, she was doing what she wanted, but she mustve been very aware of the backlash that would come from not only her parents but her previous fans because of the drastic change, leading her to feel as if she was universally hated.

SY reko's self deprecating tendencies were likely a lot more pronounced. reko already somewhat has this habit (she refers to herself as 'pathetic' in game for not taking better care of sara) but between her being much harsher in general its not a stretch that that probably applied to- in fact came from- her view of herself.

i think thats all the major ones that come to mind right now, though more may respawn because reko yabusame of all eras haunt me . thus concludes my essay . i hope you enjoyed reading

#obsession propagation #obsession original #i dont remember if i used my ask tag for the previous ones... i have to go back...#reko yabusame #fuck it. putting this in the #yttd #tag #samurai yaiba #reko questions my beloved. so much enrichment in my enclosure #hc anon

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